A vet wants to transfer her GI Bill benefits

Dear Sgt. Shaft,

I retired from the Air Force in 2006, with
22 years of service. I retired before the Post 9/11 GI Bill
existed. I realize that I can use it. What don't understand is why I am
not able to let my child use it. I wasn't given an opportunity during my
22 years to use a GI Bill. (It didn't exist for me, I didn't sign up for
VEAP, we all know why!)
I really don't need to use it myself, but my daughter would definitely
use it and she wants to go into the military. I
was just wondering if there was some way that I could transfer my
benefit to her, because I don't really need it and I hate to see it
wasted. I completed my degree while I was Active Duty. I do not plan to
go back to school. Is there any way possible to do this?

Deanna A MSgt, USAF (retired)

Dear Deanna,

To qualify for transfer of entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill an
individual must have been a member of the Armed Forces on 8/1/2009.

Shaft Notes

• The Department of Veterans Affairs will sponsor their annual
salute to women veterans at the VA medical center in WashingtonDC. This annual event, offers women
Veterans an opportunity to explore gender-specific health care services
offered at the DC VA Medical Center. This year’s event is special
because the DC VA Medical Center will be opening a Women’s Health
Pavilion where women Veterans can receive all of their health care and
specialty needs in one space of the MedicalCenter, offering a feeling of
comfort and confidence. The night will consist of hand massages, make-up
application and technique, acupuncture, acupressure, Reiki and a walk on
the Freedom Labyrinth. Women will also have the opportunity to meet
personally with health care providers to discuss gender-specific health
care needs and opportunities.

Female veterans can RSVP at (202)745- 8000 ext. 55297 or email Woman.Veteran@va.gov. Ladies’ Night will
be held on Friday, November 22, 2013 at the Atrium of the DC VA Medical
Center.

"House passage of S. 893 on the first legislative day following
Veterans Day is a timely tribute to the service and sacrifice of so many
of our country’s heroes. Disabled veterans and families of the
fallen are now one step closer to a suitable benefits increase. I thank
my colleagues in both the House and Senate for the bipartisan work it
took to send this legislation to the president’s desk. I look
forward to the president signing this bill into law so
America’s veterans and
their families can benefit from this well-deserved
adjustment.”

• Daniel M. Dellinger, national commander of The American
Legion said he is “appalled”
by conditions at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
medical center in Jackson, Miss.

“The VA facility in Jackson has failed in its
responsibility to protect veterans who depend on it for their health
care,” Dellinger said. “When pieces of bone are still
attached to surgical instruments that are being used on other patients,
putting the lives of our veterans at risk, it is time to overhaul the
entire hospital and remove – not transfer – the responsible
parties.”

The hearing, held by the House Veterans Affairs’ Subcommittee
on Oversight & Investigations, examined a variety of serious
problems at the Jackson VA center and featured testimony by two
“whistleblowers”: Dr. Phyllis Hollenbeck, M.D. and Dr.
Charles Sherwood, M.D. Hollenbeck is a former physician of family
medicine at the Jackson VAMC, and Sherwood was chief of ophthalmology
there.

Each witness described a situation at the Jackson facility
plagued with deficiencies. Hollenbeck alleged the Jackson VAMC had about
19 nurse practitioners (NPs) in its primary care unit, but only three
doctors (including her). She estimated that about 85 percent of
primary-care patients were getting medical care from NPs instead of
physicians – and that patients were frequently unaware they were
not being seen by doctors.

A July report made by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) found
that 75 percent of the Jackson VAMC’s primary-care staff were NPs
(the average VA-wide is 25 percent).

“We’ve got a VA medical center in Jackson that has
about a three-to-one ratio of nurse practitioners to physicians in its
primary care unit,” Dellinger said. “According to OSC, that
ratio at comparable facilities is one nurse practitioner for every three
doctors. How did things get so grossly incompetent in Jackson?”

A Nov. 12 story by CNBC focused on poor sterilization procedures at
the Jackson medical center that left bone
fragments on instruments. The allegations were made by an orthopedic
surgeon who used to work at the facility; he spoke to CNBC on the
condition of anonymity.

“When you have VA medical staff who are afraid to reveal their
identities to the public, you know that a culture of fear and reprisal
probably exists in the Jackson medical center,”
Dellinger said. “That is no way to honor the memory of Sonny
Montgomery, one of the strongest advocates for veterans to ever walk the
halls of the Capitol.”

Dellinger noted that VA gave bonuses last year to Joe Battle, the
Jackson VAMC’s director, and to Rica Lewis-Payton, who directs the
South Central Health Care Network (of which the Jackson facility
is a part). “This is rubbing salt into the wounds of our veterans
being treated in Jackson.”